Under Naru's Guard
by Chelle Isyrian
Summary: Set after His Fix to Her Problem. Basically just telling you what his fix was and how she's handling it. NaruxMai


**Woo! More one-shots. Though I'm considering just condensing them all into one story. Good idea or no? I have a feeling that would effectively kill my muse, so I think I'll hold out on doing that for now.**

**Anyway, this is months after His Fix to Her Problem, but is related to that so enjoy!**

**R&R please!**

**And I own nothing but the plot.**

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Mai gasped as the breath was knocked out of her. There was a hand around her throat, lightly but firmly holding her to the ground.

"Dead." the owner of the hand said flatly. Mai glared up at the cold blue eyes in front of her face. Naru shifted, standing up to his full height and holding out his hand to Mai. Mai grabbed it and hauled herself up, scowling at Naru.

"I still had time." She argued, slipping back into her fighting stance. Naru returned to his and waited, watching her. She struck out, aiming for a low kick to his shin, which he easily sidestepped and returned with a quick and almost painless rap to the head. Mai winced, almost painless.

"Doubtful." He said as he stepped backing, going to the defensive, which forced Mai into offensive. "The ghost had you pinned to the ground by your throat." Mai huffed and aimed a jab to his stomach, which, surprisingly, connected. Naru barely noticed the impact, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, but Mai slipped out of his grip. He quickly dodged a jab to his neck and reached under her guard, quickly jabbing the weak underside of her body. She recoiled and dropped into defensive. Naru smirked and moved forward, placing blows on her arms sides, forcing her backwards. Mai knew he was herding her towards a wall, toying with her. She watched his movements carefully, barely keeping up with his attacks, and waited for an opening. He rarely gave them, but in the months they'd been sparring, she'd learnt to see the very slight openings he left when on the offensive. The first time she'd gotten him was a complete accident. She'd grown frustrated and just lashed out, kicking him as hard as she could just about his right hip while he was swinging at her with his left hand. She'd been stunned when she connected solidly, hurting her foot and bruising his side tremendously. He'd taken advantage of her surprise, and knocked her down, effectively winning that round, but Mai had figured out his weakness. He left his left side less guarded when striking, and a well-timed and placed kick could unbalance him. She'd worked at reaching that spot for the next month until she could get it almost every time, causing her to finally win her first round two months after they'd started. Naru had grudgingly complimented her; then continued to slam her into the mat every time they sparred for two weeks. After some trial and error, and a lot of not so serious injuries, Mai had developed her own technique at getting under Naru's guard and hitting him. This evened the battle field somewhat, and she found herself winning more and more. Naru eventually caught on as to why she was getting better and blocked himself better, forcing Mai to change her tactics.

_THERE!_ Mai shouted in her head, careful not to betray herself. She'd seen an opening as he had aimed for her right forearm. Jumping forward Mai grabbed hold of Naru's wrists, and feigned going to twist them; instead she snapped her arms back, forcing Naru to slam into her body with their hands behind her. As Naru yanked his hands back, she drove her knee back up, this time slamming it into his side. He stumbled back in pain and Mai lashed forward, kicking him square in the chest, knocking him flat on the ground. Running forwarded she jammed her foot on his throat, squeezing down until his arm reluctantly tapped the mat beside him. Mai released him and grinned.

"Dead." She hollered, sticking out her hand to help her boss out. Naru glared at her and, before she could react, swung his leg around, knocking her over. Mai fell with a thump and saw Naru towering over her, smirking, then headed to the changing rooms.

"Hey!" she yelled. "You cheated!" Naru turned just as he was at the door and looked at her.

"I never said there was only one ghost Mai."

Mai stood in the girls changing room, drying her hair.

"Stupid Naru," she mumbled. There was an impatient knock at the door, Naru wanting to go home. She shoved her things into her bag and hurried out. Naru waited in at the entrance to the dojo for her, nearly getting bowled over as she raced out the door.

"Slow down baka before you hurt someone." He growled, walking to his car. Mai blushed and looked down. He just shook his head and slipped into the driver's seat. Mai hopped into the passenger's seat and sighed, rubbing the muscles in her arms.

"Ne, Naru. You didn't need to hit so hard." She whined.

"Yes I do," was his only response.

Later that evening, after Naru had dropped her off, Mai was sitting in her bathtub, soaking her aching muscles for the fifth time that week. Naru had gotten a lot stronger in his attacking while they sparred. She presumed he was just doing it to toughen her up, but still, it hurt. She sighed and got up, wrapping herself in a towel and pulled the plug in her bath. She set the teakettle on to boil while she dried herself and changed. She heard the loud whistle of her teakettle and prepared green tea for herself, sipping at it gratefully as the hot liquid slid down her throat. She thought back to the first time she'd sparred with Naru. She'd arrived at work that morning finding a note telling her to come to the dojo later that evening. She hadn't known where she was going at the time, but had dressed as Naru instructed in workout clothes. When she saw where she was, she felt nervous. But when she entered the apparently empty building to find Naru sitting in the middle of the room in loose pants and a t-shirt, her nervousness was replaced with confusion.

"_Ne, Naru? What are we doing here?" she asked, stepping into the large room, the floor covered in mats. Naru just motioned for her to sit before him. She hesitantly did, folding her legs under her._

"_Since you can't seem to be able to keep yourself out of trouble on cases," he started, looking her directly in the eye. "I've decided to teach you how to defend yourself."_

_Mai looked at him, surprised, but then understood why he'd told her to meet at a dojo._

He'd then proceeded to spend the next few weeks drilling stances and forms into her head until she could do them in her sleep. After he'd been satisfied with her progress he started sparring with her using safety gear. Going extremely easy on her at first, but as she got better and better, he fought harder and harder. After about four months, he decided there was no longer any need for the safety gear, and she started training without them. The bruises forming on Mai in those first few weeks of fighting with the gear had half of the SPR team threatening to call the police and file assault charges against Naru. But Mai convinced them it was fine, and her learning to fight was necessary if she wanted to be able to protect herself on cases. They'd grudgingly left it alone, but every time Mai came to work with a new set of bruises, they'd all be in bad moods, glaring non-stop at Naru. Nary just ignored them and continued to spar with Mai every night until her bruises lessened. The first time Naru had showed up to work with a bruise, everyone, including Lin, had congratulated Mai, and they'd all, but Naru, gone out for lunch. Eventually the pair both started coming back with more or less bruises, depending on which of the pair you were talking to. And though he never said or acted like it, Naru was pleasantly surprised at the speed of which Mai was improving.

The first time Mai had ever had to really use her training was in a case six months after she'd started training. A ghost had cornered her in the bathroom after she'd had a shower and attempted to drown her in the sink. She'd automatically fought back, managing to put Naru's training to use to free herself and bolt from the room. The ghost had pursued her, and she was forced to fend it off as it attacked again. She had jabbed and kicked the ghost hard enough to break bones, had it been a normal _live_ person. The ghost however, didn't feel it, but decided that the meddlesome girl who could keep her back was not worth the effort it would take to get under her guard. As the ghost left Mai had felt triumphant. Everyone had been worried when they saw the temperature drop where Mai was, but saw through the cameras as she defended herself sufficiently and walked to the base, uninjured.

Naru sat in his bathroom, shirt off and looking at himself in the mirror. He could see a rather large bruise forming where Mai had kneed him in the side. His eyes tightened in pain as he gently prodded the area. Growling under his breath he put his shirt back on. That was the sixth time that week Mai had managed to beat him. He decided it was time to up her training, and started planning their next session while he drifted off to sleep. A small smile graced his lips as he reviewed Mai's progress. To say he was pleased wouldn't exactly be a lie.


End file.
